Virginia Skin & Vein - Skin Cancer

Virginia Skin & Vein Center of Roanoke can provide a proven approach to non-melanoma skin cancer treatment. Dr. Smith does not believe that the recently popularized idea of Mohs microsurgery being the best approach for most tumors is correct. While Dr. Smith does agree that Mohs has its place, he only finds it necessary to refer about 1 in 1,000 tumors in his practice. In some rare cases he has found it necessary to enlist the help of radiation oncology for particularly aggressive or recurrent tumors.

So, what makes Dr. Smith's approach less invasive? Since he deals with skin cancer every day, it is fairly easy for him to identify many cancers simply through observation.

When we find a tumor, we first do a confirmatory biopsy. Once we have our tissue sample, we will surgically remove any remaining tumor which is identifiable. At this point we employ cryosurgery. This is a sequence of two freeze/thaw cycles which kills any tumor cells that may have traveled down an adjacent nerve or blood vessel. This method has virtually the same cure rate as Mohs surgery in our experience and it offers reasonably good cosmetic results with far less expense. Below are two examples of tumors that were treated with our method: